IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019 - 53

power to act on their circumstances. With the proper
tools and knowledge, people can reclaim their rights,
promote innovative ideas that better address their
realities, and strive for a better future using the available resources. This has benefits at the individual and
community levels. However, individual or community
power could be used for the wrong reasons or have
unintended consequences. A good example of the
challenges faced is brought up by Wilson [21] writing
about community nongovernment organizations
(NGOs) that have been successful in their implementation, but can be used for particular interests and end
up reproducing the same repressive economic model
that limits community development. Thus, long-term
goals must be established through a participatory process that guides and ensures the community is best
served. A key strategy is making people accountable
for their decision-making and actions including rules
about consumption.

Possible Framework
The social science students, through their interactions
with community leaders and engineering students, and
by analyzing the results of the Solar Colloquia, identified a framework that could guide a solar community.
An ecological perspective fits well with the principles
and challenges related to this kind of community-based
project. This can be an essential tool to understand how
different interactions between the social context and
individual lifestyles affect community plans. A better
understanding of where the community stands in their
values and the baseline projects is achieved once the
local context is considered. According to Bronfenbrenner's ecological model that emphasizes human
conduct in relation to the environment, there are different spheres or subdivisions of interaction [22]. Each of
these spheres coexist and are influenced by each other.
This perspective tries to comprehend the diversity of
individual thought and action through social relations.
This model can be used to get a better understanding of
the receptivity and consequences that new energy policies might have, and help communities strive to make
more conscience decisions regarding public matters.
New challenges constantly emerge that required adapting to one's surroundings; it is indispensable to do so in
the best way possible.
In the case of external factors, a starting point is a
review of laws and regulations related to solar power
generation. Government policies can have a positive or
negative impact on community-based projects [21]. On
one hand, policies that support the continuing dominance of large, centralized, fossil-burning power plants
will probably hurt the efforts of renewable energy advocates in places that do not have fossil fuels. On the
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other hand, policies in support of an increased use of
local energy resources support community efforts
toward sustainability and resiliency.
Another consideration is social and public stigma,
which affects the way individuals are viewed when they
are part of a disadvantaged community. The effect of
social stigma can be different depending on the circumstances, but it can lead to fewer opportunities or ways
in which people can help themselves or their communities. Sometimes people feel they are being compensated over inequalities or issues but the root causes of
their problems are not addressed, so they reject or
oppose external initiatives. Another important aspect
to consider is Puerto Rico's highly segmented society.
This issue affects everyone. Therefore efforts to
increase inclusiveness so that diverse perspectives are
considered are vital in promoting a true and lasting
change in the electricity sector. The main goal is not
only to benefit and help struggling communities
become empowered and transform their environment,
but also change the way that electric energy in Puerto
Rico is generated and consumed.
The suggested framework, based on the students'
analysis of the colloquia findings and their own literature analysis, is just one possible avenue that fits well
with the Puerto Rican context. However, it is not the
only one. For example, after the students completed
their project, an alternative framework or approach
was suggested to one of the authors. The alternative
approach suggested is based on active consumer participation and democratization in community energy
systems [24]-[26], which aligns perfectly with the
theme of the work discussed in this article. The management of community energy systems constantly
faces collective action dilemmas, for example when
demand exceeds supply. A software tool would be
designed based on design principles for sustainable
common-pool resource management to promote collective attention [24]. A key aspect of this approach is
the promotion and preservation of values. From the
results of the colloquia presented here, we saw that
many communities have a clear vision and a clear set
of values, developed through shared experiences and
struggles. Thus, the collective action platform proposed would be a valuable tool in implementing community energy projects in Puerto Rico to ensure open
participation, distribute benefits fairly, and provide
transparent management [25]. This approach would
enhance the recommendations presented in this
paper. A challenge for implementation of this tool in
Puerto Rico is the limited access to and experience
with software tools in many local communities. Further collaboration between academia and communities, similar to the collaboration discussed in this

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IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019

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